Seed-cotton cleaner.



No. 829,627. PATENTED AUG. 28, 1906.I

A. CAMPBELL. y SEED COTTON CLEANER.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 5. 1905.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

0555165566: Inman/Gfx PATENTBD Amis, 1906.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2,

A. CAMPBELL. SEED COTTON CLEANER.'

APPLICATION FILED sBPT. 5. 1905.

ple and generally improved construction I duit to conve-y the cotton.

.tui Improvement in Seedotton Cleaners, of

which the following is s sp'eoiiicetion.

' pien View of the apparatus; rig. 3, en en- -eole huh portion oi e roeiof Whichthe venes @Ail/@BELL @F JHSB fnppliortius tiled iieptemhcr 5,'1.305. Hari-afl 3io. Zrf,

To all whom t r11/ay coito-ern,.-

e it imo'wn that i, Ariens CAMPBELL, e citizen of the United States,residingn et Pitts burg, inthe county oi Allegheny end State oiPennsylvsnie, here invented new and use- ,My invention relates toimprovement in apparatus for pneuinetieeli f cieening' seed cotton toelim' Jte dust, send, deed Lheeren, and other 'foreign metter mixedtherewith before it is subjected to ginning, my object being to providesuch en apparatus of e sinn which will iie peculiarly eilicient in thepen' fornienee oi' its cleaning operation without injuring the iihersend seeds end will discher ethe cotton ine tine ilui'iy condition wlnc ipermits the treatment thereei in the gin tohe oertorined in e innnnerexc-ep tionelly expeditions end sstisfectory.

In cerrying out my invention I interpose the clesnin apparatus in thepneumatic tube through Wn'ich the cotton is conveyed from the storehouseto die gin-house.

Referring to the drawings, .Figure i is e. broken vertical sectionshowing my apparetus in operative position; Fig. 2 n broken arged brokenView of one of the toothed venes or hiedes employed in the apparatus; Fif. fr, n section ci the seine, end Fig. 5 en en arged 1croire-n section.showing the adjustiorrn s `The pnennistic tube or conduit A Wouid inpractice ext -id from the storehouse or other receiving point to thegin-house, e suction fen being located et the'giii-lnnxse end to crestea strong droit throuwh the seid con ein the pipe A nre oienings 6 and 7,et which ere provided hinged Valves or deflectors 3 end 9, respectively,which ina-y be raised to close the conduit or lowered to close the seidopenings. Apipe 1U extends frein the openinT 6 to e ehemher orvacuum-heir. 11, provid-ed with an inclined screen 12. A pipe 13 extendsfrom the si doof the vacuum-box 11 opposite the pipe 10 in n ,downwarddirection to the lower end of the cleaning eppsmtus B, Where it connectswith en uprvnrdextending pipe 14, terminating' at the opening '7.Extends ing downward from the vecunmehox 11 is s. vertice] pipe orconduit 15, in which is interposed n rotery feeder 16. The'eleening RG,QENNSYLVNM..

Patented. fing. 28, 1905.

apparatus E has en outer Well 17, of Wireinesh or other neriorsteinsteril, and is of :truste-conicni Viiirin, tapering slightly7 from theton to the bottoni. The to 18 is a tiene-e' disk tothe edge of which t ewell 17 ured et its upper ond. in the top et one side is en opening- 19,communicating with pipe 15, end throughout the greater. port it isperforated or open end covered with e screen, indicated et 20. The iowerend 21 of the casing is 'formed of e 'flanged disk, to 'the rirn portionoi which the lower end of the WellY i7 is secured, 'and in one sidethereof is v disel'isrge-opening 22, communicating with e pipe orconduit 23, containing n r0- tfiry dischargers 24. The pipe 23 opensinto the pipe Yi3 1d.

25 e rotary shaft journnled neer its npper end in e bearing 23 in thetop plete 18 and prt-sein downward through a. perforation in the.iottoin plete 2'1, 'being journeled st its lower end in e. hearing 27.The shaft carries above the bearing .26 s. belt-pulley 28. Fjrinlyfastened to the shaft 25, neer the bese-pinto 21, is e hub or coller 29,to which are iirinly secured the inner ends of n piurslity ofradislly-extending -nngle-hnrs or spokes 30. Near the upper end (if thecasing tie shnft carries eolnponion'collers 31 32, fastened byset-screws to the shnrft and holding between them e rotatable disk 33,'to which nre secured the inner ends of s plu reiityA ofradially-extending anglediers or spokes 34, corresponding in number andreletwe positions with the hers 30. The collars 31 provided toward oneedge With corresponding openings 35 to receive n pin 36, and inthe diskis :i series oi closely-adjecent openings 37, througl'i any onev oiwhich the pin muy he passed to lock the disk against independentrotation on the shaft.

33 38 ere thin metal blades or venes each provided with one corrugatededge 39 and n iie-nged'edge 40. The corrugstions -39 form ronndjiointedteeth, the edges of which are aise rounded by iienging the rnetzil inthe innnner indicated in Fig. 4. The blades or venes ere fastenedet'their lower ends to the ends of the hars 30 sind toward their upperends the ends oi the hers 34, the corrumeyahe :adjusted twente/ndspimlly, es indi-y cated, and st any desired pitch.

IOO

IIO

' 55 charger 24 into the pipe 13 14.

In the event that the cotton being transferred through the tubeA'to thegin-house requires nocleaning the valves or deflectors 8 9 may belowered to close the openings 6 7,

so that the cotton will be drawn` directly* through the conduit A. Inthe event, however, that the cotton, as is generallythe ease,l containsforeign substances or material which it is desirable to eliminate thevalves or deio flee-tors 8 9 ma be raised to the positions indicated byfulllines in Fig. 1 to direct the cotton into the pipe 10. The feed anddischarge devices 16 24 are suitably connected with a driving power,towhich the pulley 28 is .also belted, and the latter is caused torotate and turn the reel described, which `carries -the vanes 38 in thedirection which causes the lower ends of the vanes to move in advance oftheir upper ends. The suction- 2o fanat the gin-house creates a strongcurrent l of air through the pipes or by-passage 10 13 14. The cottondrawn into the -pipe 10 moves to the vacuum-box or chamber 11 andstrikes against the screen 12, dropping there- 2 5 from through the pipe15 and is delivered by the 4feeder 16 to the interior of the casing. Inpractice the reel is rotated rapidly to have a peripheral travel of,say, iive thousand feet per minute. As the cotton-falls through thelmore feet of travel around the wall the cot- ,ton is subjected in acomparatively thin layer to a strong current of air through it, whichblows out the dirt and leaf trash', leaving the 'cotton in a `finefluffy condition.

The devices 16 and 24 may rotate at com: paratively slow speed andoperate, respecltively, to feed the cotton into and discharge it fromthe cleaning-chamber. While performing these functions they maintain thepipes 15 and 23 closed against the passage of air-currents. Thuspractically no material portion ofthe cotton-conveying current set up inthe pneumatic tube A .passes through the cleaning-chamber to weaken thecurrent. The screened top 20 operates as a guard to prevent any cottonfrom being thrown out of the chamber by the action of the reel. forceofair for cleaning the cotton is generated by the reel alone, the blades3S of which yare set at an angle, -and this air which is -drawn inthrough the screened top 20 is'discharged outwardly through the cottonspread along the perforate or screen wall 17. As the wall 17 tapers inthe, downward direction, .material forced through its perforations dropstherefrom readily.

The retarding of the downward movement of the cotton b y gravity throughthe cleaner 3o opening 19 it is forced by the reel and the strongair-current generated thereby against the perforate wall 17, around theinner surface of which it tends to spread in a thin sheet or layer. Thereel in its rotation draws j 3 5 in air through the top screen 20 andforces it through the screen-wall 17 ,whereby the centrifugal current asit passes through the coto yton blowsout through the wallany dust, sand,or the like, as well as small particles of .4o dry leaves that maybemixed with the cotton. 4The blades through their engagement with thecotton sli'de or roll the latter around and around against the wall 17,and the cotton descends by gravity to the base 2l. The

4 5 object more especially of causing the blades to extend spirally isto retard the descent of the cotton. Thus disposed the blades tend toproduce an upward as well as outward blast of air and to beat up thecotton, thereby 5o causing it to descend slowly and be carried around anumber of times to prolong its subjection to the cleansing blast. Whenthe cotton descends to thc base 21, it is moved to and the extenttherefore to which it is suhjected to theclcaning blast depends `upon'the spiral pitch of the blades 3S, which may4 be regulated according torequirements by raising and lowering the collars 31 32 and adjusting thedisk 33, as before explained.

I'Vhat I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a pneumatically-operating cottoncleaning apparatus, thecombination of a vertical chamber having an air-inlet, a cylindricalscreen forming the surrounding wall of the. chamber, means for creatingan air-blast in the chamber and for directing it outwardly through saidwall, means for feeding the cotton into the upper part of the chamber,whereby it descends by gravity through the chamber across the path ofthe blast, an outlet for the cotton in the lower part of the chamber,and cotton-retarding means in the chamber for regulating the speed ofdescent of the cotton through the chamber.

2. In a pneumatically-operating cotton- 'cleaning apparatustthecombination. of a verthe opening 22 to be discharged by the dis- Fromthence it is sucked upward through the opening 7 to the conduit A anddrawn to the gin-house.

The actionupon the cotton in the cleaning operation is not at allsevere, as it is opened oo up by the round smooth ends of the teeth 39,j which do not injure .the ber, and after being opened up the cotton islkept in'sliding or l rolling contact with the wall 17, being carl yriedaround, in practice, preferably ten or o5 more times. Thus during onehundred or tical chamber having an air-inlet, a screen forming thesurrounding wall ol the chamber a. blast-creating reel in thechamberoperating to force the blast outwardly through said wall, a feed-openingfor the cotton in the upper part of the chamber, an outlet for thecotton in the lower part of the chamber, and means upon the reel forregulating the speed of movement of the cotton through the chamber. ,i

. 3. In a pneumatically-operating cottoncleaning apparatus, the fzenibuation of a The l chamber having its surrounding Wall formed of ascreen and provided with en air-inlet, an inlet for cotton at one endand an outlet therefor at its opposite end, a reel in the chamberprovide l wi th a plurality of blades having serrated edges adjacent tosaid Wall, and means l'or rotating the reel.

4. ln a pnenmatically-operating eottoncleaning appa atus, thecombination olga chamber having its surrounding wall formed of a screenand provided with an air-inlet, an inletA l'or cotton at one end and auoutlet lherel'or at its opposite end, a reel in the chamber providedwith a 'plurality of blades having corrugated edges forming roundedgedteeth adjacent to said wall, and means ior rotating the reel.

ln a pneumatically-operating cottoneleaning apparatus, the Combinationof a chamber having vits surrounding wall formed' of a screen andprovided with an air-inlet, an inlet 'for cotton at one end and anoutlet tlicrefor at its opposite end, a. reel inthe chamber providedwith a plurality of spirally arranged blades adjacent to said wall,means for adjusting the spiral pitch of the said blades, and means forrotating the reel.

l6. In a Ainennratically-operating cottoncleaning apparatus,thecombination with a eotton-conveying pneumatic tube, of a bye passagecommunicating at opposite ends with said tube, a screen in said.liv-passage, a

Vertical chamber having ils surrounding wall formed of a screeneoininunienting at its upper end with said b if-passagein advance olAtho screen. therein an outlet in the lower end ol' said chamberconinnniieating with said h3'-V passage, a cotton-discharger in saidoutlet, an air-inlet in the upper part ol' said chamber, a reel in thechamber provided with a plnralit)v of spirally-arrangcd blades adjacentto said wall7 and means for rotating ther-eet 7. ln apneuniatieallyaip'erating cottonL cleaning apparatus, the combinationwith a cotton-conveying pnenmatio tube., of a bypassage communicating atopposite ends With said tube, means for opening and closing saidliv-passage, a sereen in. the by-passage, a vertical chamber having it;surrounding wall formed of a screen. and provided With an air-inlet, aconduit communicating with the luy-passage in advance of the screentherein and discharging into the upper end of said chamber, a rotaryfeeder in said conduit, an outlet for Cotton at the lower end oi' saidchamber leadingto said bypassage, a; reel in the chamberprovided with apluralit)r of spirally-arranged blades adjacent to said Wall, and ineensfor rotating the reel.

AN GUS CAMPB l Ll i.

In presence of- JNO, MCB. DONALnsoN, S. B. DoNALnsoN.

